Ford ‘accepts’ request to testify about alleged Kavanaugh assault

posted by Fox News -
Sep 22, 2018

Christine Blasey Ford on Saturday said she would accept the Senate Judiciary Committee’s request to testify about an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, although the terms of any testimony remained unclear as of mid-afternoon.

In a letter to the committee, Ford’s lawyers said that she “accepts” the request to provide “her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct next week” after Republicans on the committee set a 2:30 p.m. deadline for her to say whether or not she would testify. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had said a vote would proceed if Ford did not respond by the cutoff time.

However, it was not clear on what terms Ford would agree to testify, something that has been a subject of debate between Ford's team and committee Republicans. In the letter, Ford’s lawyers said “many aspects of the proposal you provided ... are fundamentally inconsistent with the Committee’s promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations” but expressed hope that an agreement would be reached.

Fox News was told that Debra Katz, one of the lawyers representing Ford, requested that a hearing be set for Thursday -- a request the Republicans on the committee had initially rejected, offering Wednesday instead.

Grassley did not immediately respond to the letter, but a senior White House official told Fox News that it represented a request to continue negotiations about the terms on which she testifies without any firm commitment.